CHAR-KOOSTA
Newspaper of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation
'Don't be foolecF about sell-out Kerr Dam petition, warns Council member
A new petition making the rounds of the Reservation these days seeks to let the Montana Power Company (MPC) have control of Kerr Dam for 20 more years, for which they d make a one- time payment to the Tribes of $30 million
The name Char-Koosta is derived from Chief Charlo's and Chief Koostatah's names. They were the Tribes' last traditional chiefs.
The petition promises that the Tribal membership would receive $5,000 apiece Some Tribal members report that they're being promised that amount annually until 2004 for signing the petition and that the first check would arrive before the Arlee pow wow.
A close inspection of the document, and a little arithmetic, however, show that the petition is a carelessly-thought-out boondoggle that would cost Tribal members money instead of paying them
To explain: Under terms of the current license, MPC pays the Tribes $2.6 million a year in rent for the dam being on Tribal property. Multiplied by 20 years, the $2.6 becomes $52 million Under terms proposed by the petition, MPC would pay $30 million up front then pay nothing for 19 years. Thirty
million divided by 20 years equals $1.5 million a year for the life of the deal - a loss of Tribal income of more than $1 million Tribal members, in effect, would each pay MPC $184 a year for running the dam
(As a point of interest, MPC since 1938 has paid the Tribes a little over $40 million in rent)
In any case the petition is said to be " constitutionally invalid'. Arlee Council member and court advocate Jim Steele explains:
"Referendum is defined as a right reserved to the people to adopt or reject any act or measure (such as a Tribal ordinance) that has already been passed by a legislative body - in this case the Tribal CounciL In most cases, such an act would become law (Concludes on page two)
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District meeting is next week
On Thursday, May 24, at 6 p.m, there will be a district meeting in the St Ignatius Community Center. All Tribal members are encouraged to attend.
"This meeting is to dispel some of the rumors going around the Reservation these days," says organizer Ron Therriault St Ignatius Council representative
The meeting is to clear the air on the following subjects:
Kerr Dam
Termination
Per Capita
Enrollment
Secretarial Elections
Economic Development
Coffee and snacks will be available Please attend!